THE RESEARCH GROUP

Dr. Robert R. Reisz

B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D.

I first became interested in fossils during my third year of studies at McGill University, when I took a course with Dr. Robert Carroll on Vertebrate Paleontology. Since I did not grow up being fascinated by dinosaurs, I became interested instead in the early stages of terrestrial vertebrate evolution. Since the oldest known amniotes have been recovered from Palaeozoic sediments in Nova Scotia, Canada, this field of study appeared quite appropriate. Palaeozoic amniotes represent the first successful adaptation of vertebrates to a fully terrestrial mode of life. They are at the base of subsequent adaptive radiations that eventually gave rise to modern reptiles, birds and mammals. Their fossil remains therefore provide a unique opportunity for studies of the origin and adaptive radiation of all amniotes.

Like most vertebrate paleontologists, I am very fond of fossils, and greatly enjoy the field aspect of my specialty. This has taken me to various regions of the world, including numerous sites in Canada, the USA, Russia, and South Africa.

Although the main focus of research is on Palaeozoic synapsids, I continue to be interested in both anamniotes and amniotes of the Palaeozoic. Recently, I have been pulled "downward" into a number of projects on Devonian lungfishes (especially because of their peculiar pattern of dental development), and "upward" into some projects on dinosaurs (projects on Massospondylus and Coelophysis).

• For more information on current research in my lab, see the Research Page.

• For a complete list of my scientific papers, see the Publications Page

Other Lab Personnel:

Richard Kissel Graduate Student (Ph.D.)	Spacer	Diane Scott Lab Technician
Richard arrived from Texas Tech University, where he received his Master's degree in Geosciences studying and documenting, under the direction of Dr. Thomas Lehman, a newly discovered Upper Pennsylvanian tetrapod locality from Oklahoma. When not teaching Dr. Reisz's undergraduate comparative anatomy and vertebrate palaeontology labs, Richard can be found in the back corner of his office slapping his forehead and exclaiming "D'oh!" as he continues his research on Richards Spur captorhinids, Garnett synapsids, and his review of Diadectidae (his thesis topic). Paleontological field work has taken him to the Upper Cretaceous of southwest Texas, the Silurian of Ohio, the Lower Permian of Germany, and the aforementioned Pennsylvanian of Oklahoma.	Spacer	With over 20 years experience in this lab, Diane remains fairly sane. Apart from arguing all the facts, she also does such tasks as: preparing and analysing fossils, drawing and reconstructing specimens, as well as photography and computer graphics. These techniques are also passed on to any student who willingly enters the lab. Currently involved in over 15 projects, she hopes to have them completed before she retires or fossilises.

Dr. David Dilkes Faculty Advisor (Biology) and Lecturer	Dr. Jason Anderson Postdoctoral Fellow	Kevin Dupuis Illustrator/preparator
David's research interests in vertebrate palaeontology have been driven largely by his fascination with the diverse and often very unusual extinct reptiles and amphibians of the late Palaeozoic and early Mesozoic. He is drawn to questions of the palaeobiology of these bizarre extinct tetrapods, especially their growth, and their phylogenetic relationships. Rather than concentrate upon a single group of extinct tetrapods, he has looked for specific palaeobiological and phylogenetic problems in many different groups. His graduate theses dealt with terrestrially adapted early amphibians from the Permian of Texas and the growth and locomotion of a hadrosaur (duck-billed dinosaur) from the Cretaceous of Montana. During his postdoctoral research period, he has redescribed some poorly understood reptiles from the early Triassic of South Africa that are close to the common ancestor of most (perhaps all) living reptiles. One result of this work was a new phylogenetic hypothesis for these early reptiles. His more recent work is on a small, uniquely heavily armoured crocodile-like reptile from the Late Triassic of Virginia. Over the past several years, he has discovered an interest in the history of science, in particular palaeontology, natural history and comparative anatomy. When not involved in research or his teaching responsibilities, he is likely to be found indulging this growing passion.	Jason joins us from Montreal (McGill University, to be exact) where he defended his thesis on the Aistopoda--elongate, snake-like amphibians of the Late Paleozoic. Jason is continuing his study of Paleozoic tetrapod relationships and the question of "lissamphibian" origins on two fronts. He is studying a number of dissorophoid temnospondyl species, in collaboration with a number of other scientists. Secondly, he has just returned from a first season's field work in the Carboniferous of Nova Scotia. Jason loves referring to himself in the third person, which is handy since he has taken over the task of maintaining these pages. He also helps edit the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology web site.	Kevin came to us from Sheridan College's Technical and Scientific Illustration program as a term intern, and has settled in on a longer term basis. He's an extremely talented biological illustrator, and is learning fossil preparation techniques very quickly. He is also available for contracts; Email him and find out more.

These pages are maintained by Jason Anderson